IOC assured sentencing of activist not Olympic-related

SOCHI, Russia — The International Olympic Committee has been assured by local authorities that the three-year jail sentence given to an environmental activist earlier this week wasn't Olympic-related, spokesman Mark Adams said Saturday. The IOC had requested clarification on the case Thursday morning.

The activist, Yevgeny Vitishko, was found guilty in 2012 of deliberate destruction of property for spray-painting a construction site, which prosecutors said belonged to the governor of Krasnodar. Though his sentence was initially suspended, he was accused of violating travel restrictions. Vitishko was arrested again in a separate incident on Feb. 3 in Tuapse for allegedly swearing at a bus stop. He had previously criticized the impact of Olympic construction in Sochi.

"We have had confirmation from Sochi, who got the information for us from the relevant authorities, that this is not Games-related," Adams said. "We understand Mr. Vitishko was arrested after vandalizing a house about three years ago and given a suspended sentence at the time. My understanding is he broke that suspended sentence and was subsequently jailed."

Human Rights Watch said the case against Vitishko was politically motivated and said the IOC should urge Russia to release him. Adams said the IOC has received previous requests from Human Rights Watch on other issues, including compensation of migrant construction workers, and gotten the Russian government to act. In this case, though, Adams said the IOC is satisfied the issue isn't Olympic-related.

"That's a perfectly legitimate comment by Human Rights Watch, and we've worked with them in the case of Sochi. When they raise cases to us, we raise them to Sochi and they get responses."